The Farstrider Scout

Spectacularly enough, I managed to rent a vehicle for the weekend as so that I wouldn’t be so tied down…  Figuring I had a couple hours before the sun set, I headed out to find a road that I had spotted on Google Maps that looked like it would take me up to the top of the mountains.

What I encountered was beyond words…  So I took photographs.

I am now even more entrenched in my desire to find some way to get stationed here.  I don’t know how I’m going to do that, and that feeling may not even last, but every day I spend here, I find myself wanting it more and more.  There’s a connection here that I feel like I haven’t had in a very long time.

Today was one of those days that I was extremely thankful for the benefits of my job.  It quit raining sometime last night, and the clouds started to clear up; by morning it was pretty cold out, and the wind was scything across the flightline.

Here’s a view of the mountain range that I can see from my hotel room, taken yesterday evening.

The snow had crept down quite a ways over the past couple days, with the wet weather we’ve had, but by this afternoon it was already shrinking back.

Every time I look up at them, I am overawed, and there is one constant thought that I always have when I look at these mountains – I could live here.

I’m not a big fan of watching movies, as Gina can probably attest to. There are only a few genres that actually enjoy watching, as Gina can attest to as well, and there are quite a few movies that have come out, or are coming out, that for once I’m actually interested in…

One of them is the new Sherlock Holmes movie, which I even purchased before the Angel Thunder TDY back in April. I have yet to watch it. I might get to it this TDY.

What’s worse is the movies that I’d like to watch in the theaters. There’s a different experience to be had when watching movies in the theater, as anyone who has seen ANY of the Star Wars or Star Trek movies in the theater can attest to (I’m using that phrase a lot, aren’t I?), and while I can “ruin” movies that are out on DVD for myself by just reading about it on Wikipedia or IMDB, it’s difficult to do that for movies that just released.
Unfortunately, I hate going to the theater by myself. It feels awkward. Biggest example – Iron Man 2 came out today, and while I’m TDY, I’m sure there’s a theater around here, and even if not, it’ll still be playing when I get back, not to mention that the Prince of Persia movie comes out the week after that.

I think I’m going to have to force myself to go out.

The wind ripped through the mountains, cutting icily to the bone… He did not care. The cold burned like an ungodly fire, stealing the warmth from his veins… He still did not care. The snow stung his eyes, drifting up around his legs, getting deeper and shortening his strides by the minute… He did not care. His wife, his son, his hold, and his honor had been stolen from him in one swift stroke, and there was nothing Haegan could do would that ever bring him back, yet still, a small voice niggled in the back of his mind, whispering – You fool. You’ll die to the cold at this rate, and your vengeance will never come to pass. What kind of death is that for a Slayer? You should have risked the Undgrin road, at least then you would have chanced for an honorable death, not to mention a faster path to Karak Kadrin.

The cold thoughts stung like a knife, and slowly his course turned, taking him down from the mountains and into the sheltering trees, but it was a half blind, half frozen dwarf that stumbled into the forest, and the trees of the forest are no less forgiving of dwarfs than the cold rock of the mountain peaks. Sight stolen by the wind and the snow, it did not take long for Haegan to stumble, for dwarfs are not as surefooted in the forests as they are on the stone and rock of the places they call home. A low hanging branch rising swiftly out of the gloom of night ended all thoughts and brought a deeper dark as he lost consciousness.

Haegan did not know how long it was that he had slept, but what he did know was that he was not in the same place he had been in when the poorly placed branch had ended his thoughts. It was daylight now, but the forest canopy overhead blocked the sun, and so the misty glade he was in was a muted grey, deepening the shadows of the deeper wood around him. He sat up slowly and, placing his hands on the ground to steady himself, was surprised to find himself laying on a bed of soft green moss. His pack and water skin lay just out of arms reach, leaning up against a rock, but of his axes there was no sign.

Finding his mouth as dry as the southern deserts, he picked himself up and sat down on the rock by his pack, taking a swig from the skin and fishing a piece of waybread from the pack. His eyes wandered as he munched, slowly coming to his senses, taking in his surroundings, trying to determine where he was. The entire glade was covered in soft grass, only broken by a few patches of moss covered ground, such as the one he had awoken on, and an occasional rock here and there.

But it was the object at the center of the glade that interested him the most – A circular fountain stood there, illuminated by a few scant sunbeams that had managed to break through the canopy. The water danced down from tier to tier, catching the light and reflecting the golden beam, a soft quiet burble being the only sound that broke the tranquil silence of the glade.

Something stirred within the fountain, and Haegan frowned. What sorcery is this that brought me here to this place? The thought came unbidden as he searched for something to use as a weapon, though he had no doubt in his mind that whatever he found would do little against magic. He found none though, and turned back to the fountain in time to see a woman break the surface, water streaming from her body. Haegan watched, mouth agape, for she was truthfully the most beautiful of human women he had ever seen.
Her hair was a blond that caught the sunbeams, flowing like molten gold, gleaming pure and bright in its wetness, the light giving the illusion of a halo around her head. Brilliant blue eyes, clear as the sky, watched him with a dancing smile that was made complete by her soft red lips. She was garbed in a pure white gown that clung to her curves, leaving little to the imagination, and her skin was almost as white, pale as the moon.

But it was the object she brought with her that truly caught his attention. Her hands rested on the pommel of a large twin bladed crescent axe, its head resting on the ground in the fashion of many a dwarfen statue. The sunbeams caught this too, reflecting off its finely honed edge. The haft was clearly formed of wutroth, a wood prized by the dwarfs who held stone and metal above all other crafting materials, its dark luster gleaming as it shed the water clinging to it. The blade itself was something to behold, a gromril alloy chased in bloodgold, with faintly glowing runes that exuded power.

The golden haired woman spoke then, her voice clear and musical, “Fear not, master Dwarf, for I come bearing tidings, and a gift.”

There’s a new game that was just put out by Infinity Ward called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare d20.  It’s really simple to play, all you need is this handy chart (see below), a 20 sided die and a 6 sided die.  You roll the d20 and the result determines what happens in the game, with the d6 filling in several minor variables.  Results are as follows:

On a roll of :

1:  Your lobby fills up and the game begins to load.  It stops on “Waiting for Server…”, and 15 seconds later, times out.  Reroll 1d20 and start again.
2:  Your lobby fills up and the match starts to count down from 40 seconds.  After 40 seconds, it begins to choose a host, which takes 8 seconds.  A host is chosen, who then leaves.  Reroll 1d20 and start again.
3:  The game lobby inexplicably closes.  Reroll 1d20 and start again.
4:  IWNet is down, and you are unable to play any online matches.  Roll 1d6 to determine how many hours it will be before you can play.  As there is no advance warning or any sort of notification for this event, after the rolled number of hours has passed, roll 1d6 again.  After that final rolled number of hours has passed, reroll 1d20 and start again.
5:  You are able to get into a game, but the chosen host’s connection is poor.  Roll 1d6 to deterimine how many minutes of horrible lag you must endure, after which, reroll 1d6.  On a result of 1-3, the migration fails and you are kicked back to the lobby – Reroll 1d20 and start again.  On a result of 4-5, the migration succeeds, but the new host is no better – Reroll 1d6 to determine if you are the new host; 1-5, no, reroll 1d6 and start from the beginning of d20 result #5; 6, yes, go to d20 result #6.  On a result of 6, you’re able to play the match to completion without any further problems.
6:  You are the host, and your connection is poor.  Roll 1d6 and halve the result to determine how long other players must suffer through the horrible lag before the game chooses a new host, after which reroll 1d6.  On a result of 1-3, the migration fails and you are kicked back to the lobby – Reroll 1d20 and start again.  On a result of 4-5, the migration succeeds, but the new host is no better – start from the beginning of d20 result #5.  On a result of 6, you’re able to play the match to completion without any further problems.
7:  You are in a lobby with lower than the number of people needed to start the match countdown.  Roll 1d6 to determine how long you must wait for the required number of people, then reroll 1d20 and start again.
8:  The game lobby inexplicably closes.  Reroll 1d20 and start again.
9:  You are able to get into a match, but one of the players is a hacker with the nuke killstreak reward.  Roll 1d6 and halve the result to determine how long it is before he sets it off.  Reroll 1d20 and start again.
10:  The Steam Cloud is down, and you are unable to play any online matches.  Roll 1d6 to determine how many hours it will be before you can play.  Halve the result if you were smart enough to check the forum for maintenance warnings beforehand.  After the rolled number of hours has passed, reroll 1d20 and start again.
11:  You are able to get into a match, but there is a hacker on the opposing team.  Roll 1d20 to determine how many times you are killed by him before the match ends, then reroll 1d20 and start again.
12:  Unable to migrate host.  Reroll 1d20 and start again.
13:  Your lobby is merged with another.  Reroll 1d20 and start again.
14:  Your lobby fills up, and the match starts to count down from 40 seconds.  At 1d6 seconds, almost all the players dissapear.  Reroll 1d20 and start again.
15:  You are able to get into a match, but one of the players has the nuke killstreak reward.  Roll 1d6 to determine the player’s temprament:  1 – The player is an enemy and uses it because their team is losing; 2 – The player is friendly and uses it because your team is loosing; 3 – The player is an enemy but no matter what, they never use it, or wait until the very end of the match to do so; 4 – The player is an enemy but uses it despite the fact that their team is winning; 5 – The player is friendly but uses it despite the fact that your team is winning; 6 – The player is friendly and no matter what, they never use it, or wait until the very end of the match to do so.  For all results except 3 and 6, roll 1d6 to determine how many minutes it will be before the nuke is set off.  Reroll 1d20 and start again.
16:  The game lobby inexplicably closes.  Reroll 1d20 and start again.
17:  Your lobby fills up, and then inexplicably tries to merge your full lobby with another.  Roll 1d6 to determine how long it does this until the game lobby closes.  Reroll 1d20 and start again.
18:  Unable to connect to host.  Reroll 1d20 and start again.
19:  You join a game already in progress.  Roll 1d6 and halve the result to determine how many minutes are left in the match.  You are able to play for that long after which reroll 1d20 and start again.
20: You are able to play a full match to the end with no problems whatsoever.  Once the match is over, reroll 1d20 and start again for the next match.

I hope you all have fun playing this wonderful and entertaining addition to the Call of Duty series!

I always seem to have issues when it comes to completing projects I start, especially if they’re personal projects and have no deadline.  The Loot Bag Goblins have gone untouched for the greater part of this week due to an exercise at work…  And when I did have time to paint, I turned my attentions to a Ziggurat of Doom that I’m building as a scenario to play eventually.

The top two tiers of the Ziggurat are cut, etched, weathered, and primered, and I purchased more paint and a larger brush to tackle the final two tiers, one 18″ wide and one 24″ wide. Lots of work to do there.

But, yet again, the train of thought switches tracks and I ended up painting, and finishing, one of the models from the Battle for Skull Pass box – a captive Dwarf Slayer. Eyes are a little googly, but wouldn’t yours be after getting clobbered and tied up by a bunch of goblins? He’ll probably be pretty pissed when he comes to his senses, and I’m sure my technique with eyes will improve with time.

Not really related to the main army I’m trying to put together, but the Battle for Skull Pass kit came with a Goblin army as well, which included a large number of Night Goblin Spearmen. Ten of these (the box came with 30 or so, despite the fact that it says it only has 20), have small bags on their hips… Which have now become LOOT BAGS!!!

In the end, I plan on having 3 white loot bags, 3 green, 2 blue, 1 gold, and the 1 purple I’ve already painted.  Perfect for your public quest!

Well, 16 has moved to twenty, and I’ve dropped the champion from the initial group. I may still make him, since the concept I had for him was pretty cool (I think), but as far as the actual game goes, while viable, would be a detriment to the army, I think. So shields and heavy armor for all!

In the meantime, I’ve done some digging and come up with a tentative 2500 point army list, as follows:

• Kerik Silvershield, Dwarf Lord, with Gromril armor and shield
  • Kerik will serve as the army’s General
  • Contemplating adding an 10 man Ironbreaker unit as a guard, but this will push the points over 2500.  May have to prune something else off to allow for it, as I highly doubt Kerik would be one to stay in the background, and being alone would make him vulnerable.
• Handri Grimtome, Runesmith, with Master Rune of Spellbinding and Rune of Warding.
• 1 unit of 20 Dwarf Warriors with Heavy Armor and Shields, Musician, and Standard Bearer
• 1 unit of 20 Dwarf Warriors with Heavy Armor and Shields, Musician, and Standard Bearer
• 1 unit of 20 Dwarf Longbeards with Musician and Standard Bearer
• 1 unit of 20 Dwarf Miners with Musician, Standard Bearer, and Champion
  • Planning on adding a Steam Drill but this was not listed in the book I have
• 1 unit of 10 Dwarf Thunderers with Musician and Standard Bearer
• 1 unit of 10 Dwarf Quarrelers with Ranger Upgrade, Shields, Musician, Standard Bearer
• 1 unit of 20 Ironbreakers with Musician, Standard Bearer, led by Thane Daengar Stonehammer with Gromril Armor and Shield
• Grudge Thrower
• Cannon, led by Engineer Rukar Stonefist, with a Rune of Reloading
• Organ Gun
• Gyrocopter

Unfortunately the army book I’m using is outdated, so point values and units will have to be tweaked once I get the updated book, but fortunately birthday money will help with that.

I’d also considered adding Brexar Handrisson as a Dragonslayer, but for two things.  First, given the point value of the army, I can’t have more than 4 characters in the army, so it ended up being a choice between the Runesmith and the Dragonslayer, and the utility the Runesmith provides won out.  Secondly, Brexar, being a Slayer isn’t likely to stick around once Kerik settles in at his new post, and will probably strike out with Arvelen.

It has begun! If you listen closely enough, you can hear the ring of hammers on steel at the dwarf forges of Barak Varr, as slowly but surely, an army begins to form… Starting with 16 stalwart dwarf warriors, first up are the standard bearer, musician, and champion, and the unit’s assorted weaponry and shields!

After several hours of searching, Brexar finally found Arvelen down at the Royal Stables, grooming his Ellyrian steed. “There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you, and you’re down here tending to your… Food.” Brexar remarked with a toothy grin.

“Wind Dancer is not food, dwarf.” Arvelen bristled briefly, until he turned around and saw the young Slayer smiling. “But then, you wouldn’t know fine cuisine if it were sat in front of you, would you?” He shot back with a smirk.

“Haw! You got me there, elf.” Brexar guffawed.

“And what brings you in such an urgent search of me?” Arvelen turned back to the horse and continued grooming.

“Kerik’s leavin’. He just got word that their hold was overrun, and his father’s dead. He’s heading south to meet up with what’s left of his people and guide them to Barak Varr. Wants us to come with him.” Brexar leaned up against a post and pulled out a pipe before lighting it.

“Very well. My things are already packed. When do we leave.”

Brexar took a few puffs on the pipe, blowing smoke rings out into the air. “Tomorrow, before dawn. You know what this means, right?”

“Perhaps you should explain.” Arvelen turned and looked at the dwarf quizzically.

Brexar scowled. “The boy’s father’s dead. That makes him King. He won’t be joining us in battle again, not any time soon, and certainly not like it used to be. And when he does, he’ll have an army at his back.”